A.Word.A.Day Archives
from http://wordsmith.org/awad
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Date: Mon Dec 3 00:01:08 EST 2007
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--vilipend
X-Bonus: A real book is not one that we read, but one that reads us. -W.H. Auden, poet (1907-1973)
Order is good. Mostly. It makes sure that the earth will go around the sun
in the same way as it has in the past and bring summer to ripen the
mangoes. Patterns are good too -- most of the time. They help us find our
shoes easily among an array of other pairs.
But if we stick too much to the same order and pattern, we lose. We lose
the opportunity to discover new lands, new paths, new flowers, new ways
(and new words!).
Sometimes the break in order is by choice and at times it's forced, as when
you lose a job. Often it's a blessing in disguise. It's an opportunity to
explore and discover what remained hidden on the old path.
This week's words have no order, pattern, or theme. They just are. But
they're all interesting.
vilipend (VIL-uh-pend) verb tr.
1. To treat someone with contempt.
2. To disparage.
[From Old French vilipender, from Latin vilipendere, from vilis
(cheap, worthless) + pendere (to consider). The words vilify,
vile, revile, and venal are all cousins of this word.]
-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)
"Every month those of us who teach at Columbia (the University) are
supposed to be paid, and every month last fall I wasn't. This seems not
to have been a value judgment. They say the computer can't find me; I am
so random I am inaccessible. Still, if I were a tenant in one of the many
hovels owned by the University, and failed for months to pay my rent, you
can bet Columbia (the Landlord) would have flopped my disk soon enough.
Most of us are tenants in this society, which is why it is necessary to
anathematize and vilipend the landlords, our owners."
John Leonard; In Person; Newsday (New York); Feb 19, 1987.
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Date: Tue Dec 4 00:01:09 EST 2007
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--adscititious
X-Bonus: A myth is a religion in which no one any longer believes. -James Kern Feibleman, philosopher and psychiatrist (1904-1987)
This week's theme: miscellaneous words.
adscititious (ad-si-TISH-uhs) adjective
Derived from outside; external; additional.
[From Latin adscitus, past participle of adsciscere (to admit or adopt),
from ad- (toward) + sciscere (to seek to know), from scire (to know).
Ultimately from the Indo-European root skei- (to cut or split) that also
gave us schism, ski, and shin.]
Today's word in Visual Thesaurus: http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=adscititious
-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)
"[Dr. Kozak] stands in the middle of the adscititious atmosphere and
soaks in the effect."
Joel Wedel; Siphonophora; iUniverse; 2006.
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Date: Wed Dec 5 00:01:08 EST 2007
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--interpellate
X-Bonus: There are few things more disturbing than to find, in somebody we detest, a moral quality which seems to us demonstrably superior to anything we ourselves possess. It augurs not merely an unfairness on the part of creation, but a lack of artistic judgment. Sainthood is acceptable only in saints. -Pamela Hansford Johnson, poet and novelist (1912-1981)
This week's theme: miscellaneous words.
interpellate (in-tuhr-PEL-ayt) verb tr.
To question formally an official, a member of government, etc.
[From Latin interpellatus, past participle of interpellare (to interrupt),
from inter- (between) + pellare (to thrust).]
Today's word in Visual Thesaurus: http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=interpellate
-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)
"Another sore point for majority congressmen was the fact that several
opposition congressmen continued to interpellate Mr. Andaya on the
macroeconomic assumptions for as long as four hours straight."
Cathy Rose A. Garcia; Quorum Lack Delays Action On; BusinessWorld
(Philippines, Manila); Oct 19, 2001.
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Date: Thu Dec 6 00:01:09 EST 2007
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--serotine
X-Bonus: I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent. -Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948)
Important Reminder: Add wsmith@wordsmith.org to your
addressbook to make sure you continue to receive our email.
This week's theme: miscellaneous words.
serotine (SER-uh-tin, -tyn) adjective
Late in occurring, forming, or flowering.
noun
A small brown bat (Eptesicus serotinus) native of Europe and Asia
(named after its habit of appearing late in the evening).
[From Latin serotinus (belated), from serus (late).]
Today's word in Visual Thesaurus: http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=serotine
-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)
"We passed along, athwart the twilight peering
Forward as far as ever eye could stretch
Against the sunbeams serotine and lucent."
Dante Alighieri; The Divine Comedy (translated by Henry Wadsworth
Longfellow); 1867.
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Date: Fri Dec 7 00:01:09 EST 2007
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--superficies
X-Bonus: How can we expect another to keep our secret if we have been unable to keep it ourselves. -Francois de La Rochefoucauld, writer (1613-1680)
This week's theme: miscellaneous words.
superficies (soo-puhr-FISH-ee-eez) noun
Outer surface or appearance of something or someone.
[From Latin superficies, from super (over, above) + facies (form, face),
from facere (to make or do). Ultimately from the Indo-European root dhe-
(to set or put) that is also the source of do, deed, factory, fashion,
face, rectify, defeat, sacrifice, satisfy, Sanskrit sandhi (literally,
joining), Urdu purdah (literally, veil or curtain), and Russian duma
(council).]
Today's word in Visual Thesaurus: http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=superficies
-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)
"You are elated to realise how close they are to Zanu-PF, beneath
the superficies of perfunctory opposition."
When Home is Harder Than Away; The Herald (Harare, Zimbabwe); Nov 3, 2007.
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Date: Mon Dec 10 00:01:10 EST 2007
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--busman's holiday
X-Bonus: A sect or party is an elegant incognito devised to save a man from the vexation of thinking. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)
There's baker's dozen and bull's eye and deadman's hand (a poker hand) and
blindman's buff.
Our language is sprinkled with terms coined with the formula X's Y. There are
diseases and syndromes and body parts named after physicians (Parkinson's
disease); there are theorems, laws, and numbers named after scientists
(Avogadro's number); there are plants named after botanists (Ahnfelt's
seaweed); and there are places named after explorers, though some are named
after no one ("no man's land" :-).
This week we'll look at five terms that follow this X's Y or "someone's
something" formula, terms that are named after no one in particular.
busman's holiday (BUS-manz HOL-i-day) noun
A holiday spent doing things as at work.
[Imagine a bus driver having a day off, 'enjoying' a bus ride and you'll
have a pretty good idea of this term. Going on a long drive might be
a great vacation for many of us, but not for a bus driver. Of course,
when the phrase came up some 200 years ago, bus drivers had charge of
horse-drawn buses. The term is sometimes seen as 'businessman's holiday'.]
Today's word in Visual Thesaurus: http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=busman's+holiday
-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)
"Boundless energy and vaulting ambition carried Nicolas Sarkozy to the
presidency of France. Now that he has had just over 100 days in office
(including a hyperactive busman's holiday in New Hampshire), it is a
good time to take stock of where all this energy may be leading."
The World According to Sarkozy; The Economist (London, UK); Aug 30, 2007.
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Date: Tue Dec 11 00:01:10 EST 2007
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--friar's lantern
X-Bonus: Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather. -John Ruskin, author, art critic, and social reformer (1819-1900)
This week's theme: whose what?
friar's lantern (FRY-uhrz LAN-tuhrn) noun
A phosphorescent light seen over marshy ground at night, caused by
spontaneous combustion of gases emitted by decomposing organic matter.
A synonym is foxfire (not Firefox), especially for luminescence
produced by fungi.
[The first use of the term is in John Milton's 1632 poem L'Allegro:
"She was pinched and pulled, she said; / And he, by Friar's lantern led."]
Today's word in Visual Thesaurus: http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=friar's+lantern
-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)
"Question: What do you get when you cross a firefly with a tobacco plant.
Answer: A cigarette that lights itself.
The joke quickly made the rounds after a group of genetic engineers in
California earlier this month announced that they had transferred into
the cells of a tobacco plant the gene that causes a firefly to glow.
The tobacco plant seems to rise out of the page like a will-o'-the-wisp
or friar's lantern."
Chet Raymo; A Tale of a Firefly and a Tobacco Leaf; The Boston Globe;
Nov 24, 1986.
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Date: Wed Dec 12 00:01:09 EST 2007
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--curate's egg
X-Bonus: I've made an odd discovery. Every time I talk to a savant I feel quite sure that happiness is no longer a possibility. Yet when I talk with my gardener, I'm convinced of the opposite. -Bertrand Russell, philosopher, mathematician, and author (1872-1970)
This week's theme: whose what?
curate's egg (KYOOR-itz eg) noun
Something having both good and bad parts.
[From a cartoon in Punch magazine (London, UK) in which a timid curate
(a junior clergy member), when served a stale egg at a bishop's table,
tries to assure his host that parts of the egg were edible:
Right Reverend Host: I'm afraid you've got a bad egg, Mr. Jones!
The Curate: Oh no, My Lord, I assure you! Parts of it are excellent!
The cartoon was drawn by George du Maurier and published in the Nov 9, 1895
issue of the magazine. That makes it one of the very few terms whose origin
we can pin down to a specific date.]
-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)
"One act of sportsmanship by London Irish and a moment's opportunism by
Saracens separated these two sides after a curate's egg of a match."
David Llewellyn; Saracens 24 London Irish 20; The Independent (London, UK);
Nov 25, 2007.
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Date: Thu Dec 13 00:01:10 EST 2007
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--widow's peak
X-Bonus: Neither great poverty nor great riches will hear reason. -Henry Fielding, author (1707-1754)
This week's theme: whose what?
widow's peak (WID-oz peek) noun
A V-shaped hairline at the center top of the forehead.
[From the former belief that this feature in a woman was an omen that she'd
outlive her husband, as in those days a widow wore a mourning hood with a
pointed crest.]
Earlier, this feature in a man was known as a widower's peak, though today
widow's peak is a unisex term. It's not known what the superstition said
when two people with widow's peak married each other. Examples of people
with widow's peaks: John Travolta, Count Dracula.
Today's word in Visual Thesaurus: http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=widow's+peak
-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)
"Tall, slim and more Draculesque than ever with his sunken cheeks,
widow's peak and grey sidewings, [Jan] Garbarek led a virtuosic
quartet by example."
Jack Massarik; The Enigma Soars to a Sparky Beat; The Evening Standard
(London, UK); Nov 19, 2007.
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Date: Fri Dec 14 00:01:09 EST 2007
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--shank's mare
X-Bonus: A tragic indicator of the values of our civilization is that there's no business like war business. -Douglas Mattern, peace activist (b. 1933)
This week's theme: whose what?
shank's mare (SHANGKS mare) noun
One's own legs. Also known as shank's pony.
[From facetiously referring to one's legs as a horse,
a shank being the part of the leg between the knee and ankle.]
Today's word in Visual Thesaurus: http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=shank's+mare
-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)
"If you'll be walking, click the Walking tab on a plotted route to see
directions optimized for traveling by shank's mare."
Steve Bass; The Web's Best Mapping Sites; PC World; Aug 20, 2007.
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Date: Mon Dec 17 00:01:08 EST 2007
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--anthropomorphize
X-Bonus: Be regular and orderly in your life so that you may be violent and original in your work. -Gustave Flaubert, novelist (1821-1880)
Why did I select the five words that will be featured this week?
Well, I can tell you at the beginning that they have nothing in common.
Not in their meanings, not in their origins, not their pronunciations,
or anything else. But there was a reason I chose them. What was it?
Put on your sleuthing caps and see if you can figure it out. If you think
you've got it, email your answer to (puzzle at wordsmith.org). One answer
per person, please. The first reader to uncover the plot will receive an
autographed copy of my new book "The Dord, the Diglot, and an Avocado or
Two: The Hidden Lives and Strange Origins of Common and Not-So-Common Words".
So will another reader randomly selected from all the correct answers.
anthropomorphize (an-thruh-puh-MOR-fyz) verb tr., intr.
To attribute human qualities to things not human.
[From Greek anthropo- (human) + morph (form).]
Today's word in Visual Thesaurus: http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=anthropomorphize
-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)
"Yes, we love our pets and anthropomorphize them to the point where we
think our cat might enjoy wearing the mouse hat Halloween costume."
Natalie Angier; The Ambivalent Bond With a Ball of Fur; The New York Times;
Oct 2, 2007.
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Date: Tue Dec 18 00:01:08 EST 2007
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--kafkaesque
X-Bonus: In those parts of the world where learning and science have prevailed, miracles have ceased; but in those parts of it as are barbarous and ignorant, miracles are still in vogue. -Ethan Allen, revolutionary (1738-1789)
This week's theme: Yours to discover.
Kafkaesque (kaf-ka-ESK) adjective
Complex or illogical in a bizarre, surreal, or nightmarish manner.
[After the Czech author Franz Kafka (1883-1924), who depicted such
fictional worlds in his novels.]
Today's word in Visual Thesaurus: http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=kafkaesque
-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)
"In a Kafkaesque touch, [Dr. Andrej Holm's] lack of a cellphone --
hindering the efforts of German authorities to track him -- is deemed
'conspiratorial behavior'."
Neil Smith; German GWOT Misfire; The Nation (New York); Sep 24, 2007.
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Date: Wed Dec 19 00:01:09 EST 2007
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--dysphagia
X-Bonus: A speech belongs half to the speaker and half to the listener. -Michel de Montaigne, essayist (1533-1592)
This week's theme: Yours to discover.
dysphagia (dis-FAYJ-uh, -jee-uh) noun
Difficulty in swallowing.
[From Greek dys- (bad, difficult) + phagein (to eat).]
Today's word in Visual Thesaurus: http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=dysphagia
-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)
"So Boswell and Achilles collaborated on creating The Dysphagia Cookbook:
Great Tasting and Nutritious Recipes for People with Swallowing
Difficulties."
Mary Beth Faller; Book Aids Those With Eating Ills; The Arizona Republic;
Mar 14, 2006.
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Date: Thu Dec 20 00:01:09 EST 2007
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--excursive
X-Bonus: I cannot conceive otherwise than that He, the Infinite Father, expects or requires no worship or praise from us, but that He is even infinitely above it. -Benjamin Franklin, statesman, author, and inventor (1706-1790)
This week's theme: Yours to discover.
excursive (ik-SKUR-siv) adjective
Tending to wander off; rambling.
[From Latin excurrere (to run out), from ex- (out) + currere (to run).
Ultimately from the Indo-European root kers- (to run) that's also the source
of car, career, carpenter, occur, discharge, and caricature. Why caricature?
Because a caricature is a loaded or distorted picture of someone.]
Today's word in Visual Thesaurus: http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=excursive
-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)
"Through a succession of journeys shaped by the caprices of the bus
companies, he conjures a narrative that is excursive, digressive and
diverting beyond measure."
Man on an Omnibus; The Daily Telegraph (London, UK); Dec 3, 2006.
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Date: Fri Dec 21 00:01:08 EST 2007
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--jabberwocky
X-Bonus: An error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor does the truth become error because nobody will see it. -Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869-1948)
This week's theme: Yours to discover.
Why did I select these words (anthropomorphize, kafkaesque, excursive,
dysphagia and jabberwocky) this week? If you know the answer, email it to
(puzzle at wordsmith.org). One answer per person, please. The first reader
to uncover the plot will receive an autographed copy of my new book "The
Dord, the Diglot, and an Avocado or Two: The Hidden Lives and Strange
Origins of Common and Not-So-Common Words". So will another reader randomly
selected from all the correct answers.
jabberwocky (JAB-uhr-wok-ee) noun
Meaningless speech or writing.
[After Jabberwocky, a nonsense poem by Lewis Carroll which was part of
his novel Through the Looking Glass (1871).]
The poem Jabberwocky is filled with made-up words, yet it has been
translated into dozens of languages. Not bad for a nonsensical poem.
Original: http://www.jabberwocky.com/carroll/jabber/jabberwocky.html
Translations: http://www76.pair.com/keithlim/jabberwocky/translations
-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)
"To the Steelers, [Joey] Porter trying to outtalk them would be so much
jabberwocky, nonsensical ramblings that cause no impact and only sound
foolish."
Alan Robinson; Sound of Silence; Associated Press; Nov 23, 2007.
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Date: Mon Dec 24 00:01:09 EST 2007
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--lahar
X-Bonus: The soul should always stand ajar. That if the heaven inquire, He will not be obliged to wait, Or shy of troubling her. -Emily Dickinson, poet (1830-1886)
If you speak English, you know words from at least a hundred different
languages. That's because English has borrowed words from languages
everywhere, and continues to do so.
All living languages borrow, though not to the same degree. Each new word
brings its own color to the mosaic of the language, just as each new person
does to a population, making it richer and vibrant.
We see words derived from Greek, Latin, Spanish, French, etc. every day,
but this week we'll look at a few words from languages that are not so well
known -- Javanese, Coptic, Tamil, Shelta, and Hawaiian -- and also learn a
little about those languages.
lahar (LAH-har) noun
An avalanche-like mudflow composed of volcanic debris and water,
originating on the slopes of a volcano.
[From Javanese lahar (lava). Javanese is a language spoken on the island
of Java, Indonesia. It has about 80 million speakers.]
Today's word in Visual Thesaurus: http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=lahar
-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)
"Steam puffs from the same crater in 1975 raised fears that rising
heat could melt glaciers and cause lahars, torrential flows of mud,
debris and water capable of speeds up to 20 to 40 mph and with
enough force to bulldoze houses, trees and boulders."
Geologists Study Beneath Mount Baker; Associated Press; Apr 20, 2007.
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Date: Tue Dec 25 00:01:09 EST 2007
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--adobe
X-Bonus: All ideas are already in the brain, just as all statues are in the marble. -Carlo Dossi, author and diplomat (1849-1910)
This week's theme: words borrowed from other languages.
adobe (uh-DO-bee) noun
1. An unburned, sun-dried brick made of clay and straw.
2. Silt or clay deposited by rivers, from which such bricks are made.
3. A building made of such material.
[Via Spanish and Arabic from Coptic tobe (brick). Coptic is the classical
language of Egypt, a form of Egyptian with heavy influence from Greek.]
Today's word in Visual Thesaurus: http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=adobe
-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)
"When the earthquakes of Sept. 19 and 20 struck, walls collapsed and roofs
caved in. Many people were crushed under the thick adobe walls, and
survivors have been left to set up makeshift shelters amid the rubble or
in the street."
Steve Frazier; Mexican Property Seizures After Quake Infuriate Owners;
The Wall Street Journal (New York); Nov 7, 1985.
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Date: Wed Dec 26 00:01:09 EST 2007
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--catamaran
X-Bonus: The man who can make others laugh secures more votes for a measure than the man who forces them to think. -Malcolm De Chazal, writer and painter (1902-1981)
This week's theme: words borrowed from other languages.
catamaran (kat-uh-muh-RAN) noun
1. A boat with two parallel hulls, joined by a frame.
2. A quarrelsome person, especially a woman.
[From Tamil kattumaram, from kattu (to tie) + maram (tree, wood).
Tamil is spoken in Tamilnadu, a state in southern India and in Sri Lanka.
It has about 70 million speakers.]
Today's word in Visual Thesaurus: http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=catamaran
-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)
"'I'm convinced my catamaran, which is larger than Ellen MacArthur's,
can complete the course in 70 days,' [Tony] Bullimore said."
British Yachtsman Bullimore Sets Out on World Record Attempt;
dpa German Press Agency; May 1, 2007.
"No, madam, it was your turn to bully me once -- now it's mine, and I
use it. No, you old catamaran, though you pretend you never read novels."
William Makepeace Thackeray; Lovel the Widower; Harper's; 1860.
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Date: Thu Dec 27 00:01:09 EST 2007
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--moniker
X-Bonus: What the mind doesn't understand, it worships or fears. -Alice Walker, author (b. 1944)
This week's theme: words borrowed from other languages.
moniker (MON-i-kuhr) noun
A person's name or nickname.
[Probably from Shelta, a language used by itinerant people (known as
Irish Travelers) in the British Isles. It has about 86,000 speakers.]
Today's word in Visual Thesaurus: http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=moniker
-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)
"The Duchess of York says it was 'naughty' for pop singer Fergie to
use the moniker which originally referred to her former highness.
Sarah Ferguson says she is the original Fergie and called the singer
after she released her latest album, The Dutchess, to say she now
owed the real duchess a charity concert."
CP; Lumpy vs. Humpy; Edmonton Sun (Canada); May 10, 2007.
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Date: Fri Dec 28 00:01:08 EST 2007
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--kahuna
X-Bonus: I learn that ten percent of all the world's species are parasitic insects. It is hard to believe. What if you were an inventor, and you made ten percent of your inventions in such a way that they could only work by harnessing, disfiguring or totally destroying the other ninety percent? -Annie Dillard, author (b. 1945)
This week's theme: words borrowed from other languages.
kahuna (kuh-HOO-nuh) noun
1. A priest or a medicine man.
2. An important person (usually in the phrase: big kahuna).
[From Hawaiian kahuna. Hawaiian is a Polynesian language spoken in the
Hawaiian islands in the Pacific. The number of native speakers of the
language has decreased to just a few hundred.]
-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)
"It's tough being yesterday's man. At a briefing introducing investors
to the new AMP boss Craig Dunn, outgoing kahuna Andrew Mohl appeared
a little left out."
Michael Evans; Marginbet Takes Even Bigger Bet; The Sydney Morning Herald
(Australia); Nov 27, 2007.
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Date: Mon Dec 31 00:01:10 EST 2007
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--wiki
X-Bonus: The dust of exploded beliefs may make a fine sunset. -Geoffrey Madan, writer (1895-1947)
The new year in A.Word.A.Day begins with new words, relatively speaking.
This week we'll feature words coined in the last decade or so. Of course,
new year is an artificial date, the wheel of time keeps revolving, and
just like that, new words are coined all the time. Some stay and enter
the dictionaries while others are thrown off by the moving wheel.
When I say new words, I don't mean words coined in the last year.
Lexicographers watch words for their stamina, to see if a word is going to
stick around in the language, and only then add it to their dictionaries.
May you always find a word when you need it, in the new year!
wiki (wiki) noun
A collaborative Web site that can be edited by anyone.
[From Hawaiian wiki (quick). First citation of the word in English is from
1995, when programmer Ward Cunningham used it in naming his new software
WikiWikiWeb.]
-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)
"BlogTO spilled the news about Torontopedia, the city's own wiki,
just a few days ago, giving everyone a place to add to and edit
things about the city. "
Toronto Faves And Our Very Own Wiki; Toronto Star; Apr 30, 2007.